Fitbit teams-up with Amazon to give Alexa fitness-tracking abilities

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As we reported last month, the Amazon Echo and its Alexa artificial intelligence has begun to emerge as the leader in the smart home space due to its vast integrations. The list of supported devices grew bigger today, with the announcement that Fitbit has partnered with Amazon to give Alexa new fitness-tracking abilities.

Users of Alexa-enabled devices, like the Echo speaker and IoT hub, will be able to query the AI how they've performed that day, along with other fitness-related prompts. Fitbit's integration makes it the first wearable company to make stats available via Alexa.

“Working with Amazon and Alexa to create this new skill provides a completely new and fun way for Fitbit users to stay on top of their health and fitness goals,” said Tim Roberts, Executive Vice President, Interactive at Fitbit. “Our integration with Alexa gives you hands-free access to your data, so you can find out when you walk in the door at the end of the day what your step count is in seconds, and know if you need to go on a quick walk before dinner."

Alexa can recognise a variety of questions about your activity over the past week including things like how you slept last night, how many active minutes you’ve logged, or the number of calories you’ve burned. The integration makes access to your data more accessible through being just a question away, rather than having to look at your smartphone.

The integration announced by Fitbit today is hinted at just being the start. "As we look at how this integration could evolve in the future, there is an endless world of possibilities from fitness coaching and nutrition tips, to guidance before bedtime to help you get a more restful night’s sleep,” said Roberts.

Fitbit announced the acquisition of popular fitness coaching service FitStar in March last year, integrating the personalised workouts into their latest Fitbit Blaze wearable released this month. It's not a long shot to imagine Fitbit has plans to integrate FitStar coaching through Alexa in their pipeline.

“We’re thrilled to add the Fitbit skill to our Alexa-enabled devices—this skill brings a whole new level of convenience for customers who are looking for new ways to keep track of their health and fitness goals,” said Rob Pulciani, Director Amazon Alexa. “With the recent launches of Amazon Tap and Echo Dot, even more customers will have access to unique and helpful Alexa skills such as this integration with Fitbit. More experiences are moving to voice, and it’s only going to get better for our customers.”

Alexa is the second voice assistant which Fitbit has partnered with, after integrating with Microsoft's Cortana to enable voice-activated food and activity logging in October, 2014.

What do you think about Fitbit's integration with Alexa? Let us know in the comments.

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